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    Written Work 2 - Activity 2 Astronomical Phenomena

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    Evangeline Agtarap
    Ancient civilizations were able to observe and record various astronomical phenomena without telescopes. They noticed that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and that these rising and setting points varied over the course of a year. They also observed the phases of the moon over 29.5 days and noticed lunar and solar eclipses. Additionally, they saw that the stars appeared fixed but some "stars" like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn changed positions periodically.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Written Work 2 - Activity 2 Astronomical Phenomena

    Uploaded by

    Evangeline Agtarap
    126 views5 pages
    Ancient civilizations were able to observe and record various astronomical phenomena without telescopes. They noticed that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and that these rising and setting points varied over the course of a year. They also observed the phases of the moon over 29.5 days and noticed lunar and solar eclipses. Additionally, they saw that the stars appeared fixed but some "stars" like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn changed positions periodically.

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    Written Work 2_Activity 2 Astronomical Phenomena

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    Written Work 2_Activity 2 Astronomical Phenomena

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    Ancient civilizations were able to observe and record various astronomical phenomena without telescopes. They noticed that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and that these rising and setting points varied over the course of a year. They also observed the phases of the moon over 29.5 days and noticed lunar and solar eclipses. Additionally, they saw that the stars appeared fixed but some "stars" like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn changed positions periodically.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    126 views5 pages

    Written Work 2 - Activity 2 Astronomical Phenomena

    Uploaded by

    Evangeline Agtarap
    Ancient civilizations were able to observe and record various astronomical phenomena without telescopes. They noticed that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and that these rising and setting points varied over the course of a year. They also observed the phases of the moon over 29.5 days and noticed lunar and solar eclipses. Additionally, they saw that the stars appeared fixed but some "stars" like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn changed positions periodically.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    At a glance
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    Ancient civilizations were able to observe the motion of celestial objects like the sun, moon and planets and phenomena like eclipses and used them to develop calendars and understand seasonal changes.

    Ancient astronomers were able to observe the rising and setting of the sun, variations in where the sun rises and sets over the course of a year, and the motion of planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

    Ancient astronomers observed that the moon changes its appearance from a thin crescent to a full circular disk over the course of around 29.5 days in what are known as the phases of the moon.

    Activity 2: Astronomical Phenomena Known to Astronomers before the

    Advent of Telescopes

    Materials: Activity Sheet

    Directions:

    1. Read the text below (Learn About It)

    2. Answer Try It

    Learn About It

    Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are easily seen in the sky without the aid
    of telescopes. These planets can be easily confused with stars and are only seen at
    specific times of the day. The best time to look for these planets would be before sunrise
    and after sunset.

    Even before the invention of the telescope, ancient people have already observed
    different astronomical phenomena. The most observable objects in the sky are the sun
    and moon.

    Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations used a primitive version of a sundial, called


    gnomon, in systematically observing the motion of the sun. By looking at the shadows
    that the gnomon casts, they were able to observe that the sun rises in the eastern part of
    the sky, reaches its highest point in midday, and sets in the western part of the sky.
    Also, they recorded that the points where the sun rises and sets on the horizon varies over
    a year and these variations happen periodically. They observed that these variations are
    related to weather and so concluded that seasonal changes in climate happen during a
    course of one year.

    Learn about it!

    Phases of the Moon

    Ancient people have observed that the moon changes its path and its appearance within a
    period of 29.5 days. They observed that the moon changes its appearance from thin semi-
    circular disk to full circular disk. These phases of the moon is the basis of ancient
    calendars.

    Lunar Eclipse
    Besides their observation in the different phases of the moon, they also noticed that there
    are times when the moon or part of it seemed to be covered by a shadow for a brief
    moment. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon when the
    Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.

    A phenomenon such as this is known as a lunar eclipse wherein the moon changes into a
    dark or blood red color.

    Solar Eclipse
    Aside from lunar eclipse, the occurrence of a solar eclipse was also observed. Solar
    eclipse occurs when the Moon is in between the Sun and the Earth and the moon partially
    or completely blocks out the sun.

    The Motion of the Stars

    It was also observed that the stars appear to be attached to a celestial sphere that rotates
    around an axis in one day. This axis intersects the celestial sphere at a point in the
    northern sky and is presently close to the northern star, Polaris. Also, the constellations’
    positions in the night sky vary depending on the time of the year.

    Visibility of Planets

    Astronomers have discovered that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are planets
    because they have noticed that the stars are in a fixed position with respect to each other
    (like how constellations are always grouped). But there are very bright stars that change
    positions periodically. These “stars” do not belong to any group of constellations in the
    sky. Thus, they are called "wanderers” or planetes in Greek terms.

    Try It!

    Directions: Complete the statements below. Even before the advent of the telescopes,
    ancient astronomers were able to observe the following:

    rising and setting of the ___(1)____ in the east and the west, respectively,

    point where the Sun rises and sets in the ____(2)____ varies in a year,

    phases of the ____(3)____.

    Lunar ____(4)____,

    __(5)___ eclipse,

    daily and annual motion of the ___(6)___, and

    planets Mercury, ____(7)____, ___(8)____, ____(9)____, and ____(10)___.

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